I returned to the platform early the next morning, wanting to get everything to Rowan before he left. It was empty of mechanics, and the eggy ship stood alone, its gangplank still down. I climbed up and poked my head in, and found Rowan just sitting there, staring blankly at the control panel.
“Hiya! Where is everyone? I thought they’d be rushing to find a solution.”
He started and turned to face me. “Oh! Good morning, Wilrhyn. I sent them home. A new problem has arisen.”
“Another one? What’s going on?”
“I have heard nothing more from The Voice of Lyra since you left last night. They are normally precise with their transmissions.”
“Uh oh, do you think they got hit by something?" I came over and sat down in the other chair, staring at the buttons and screens in the hopes that something might prove informative. “You mentioned you were using a short range communicator. Perhaps they flew out of reach? Did you try switching to the long range one? Or is it not working?”
“I am Security, not Technology.”
“Ah, so could be both.” I reached out toward the buttons near the speaker, but Rowan grabbed my wrist.
“I know it works in this configuration. Leo promised to do some research and return later.”
“All right, all right. Well, I guess this means you get first crack at the goodie box.” I pulled it out of my inventory, startling him once again, and set it down on the floor.
I might as well have pulled out a live rat, the way he stared at it. “You are very generous,” he managed. “It is best that you leave now. Should they find a way to call the shuttle back to the ship, but cannot tell me, and you are on it -”
“Oh, right, good point. Sure thing. Good luck.”
Later that evening I got a message from someone named Leo. “Hey, are you Rowan’s hot red-head? You better get back to the shuttle.”
I was there within seconds, nearly running into the tall, tattooed man that I had seen here earlier.
“What! What’s happened?”
“Well, the good news is, I got the long range communicator working,” he said, jerking his thumb back toward the ship. “The bad news is, he got some bad news.” He leaned forward. “The debris was worse than they expected,” he said in a low voice. “They was struck by a piece that was larger than the ship, and it dragged them for eight hours before they was able to break apart from it.”
“Oh, no! Was anyone hurt?”
“They didn’t say, and then he kicked me out, but it didn’t sound good.”
I climbed into the shuttle and crept into one of the seats, hoping Rowan wouldn’t notice I was there. He had turned off the loudspeaker and was wearing a headset that looked as though it had been specially designed to fit over our pointed ears, and let me tell you, I was a little envious. He wasn’t saying much, except the occasional “Yes, Sir” or “No, Sir,” but the downward curve of his shoulders was growing worse by the minute. I had long since lost my acute elven sense of hearing, so I couldn’t understand what was being said on the other side.
Finally, he said, “Understood, sir. Yes, sir. Safe travels to you.” Sighing heavily, he tossed the headphones onto the other chair. Then he straightened up and turned to face me.
“Leo told me what happened,” I said quickly.
“Is everyone here so meddlesome?” he asked, glancing over at Leo, who was sitting in the doorway.
“Yes! Was anyone hurt? How bad is it? What are they going to do?”
“There were no significant injuries, but the vessel was damaged.”
“Can they fix it?”
“They need specialized tools and parts they don’t have.”
“Can they land?" Leo asked. "Maybe we can repair it.”
“They can move forward, and make minor course adjustments, but reversing or turning around is proving impossible. ”
“Have them send down a damage report. If we can get the shuttle out -”
But Rowan was shaking his head. “They were uncomfortable with the thought of your ‘hacking,’ and have already made other plans.”
“Hey, we was only tryin' to help!”
“And if there were no alternatives, they would have accepted. According to the ship’s maps, there is a world relatively close by where they can dock and have experts make the necessary repairs. With care, they can get there, or close enough to ask them for help.”
“Is that safe? Won’t they recognize the stolen ship?”
“We didn’t steal - we have spoken with other vessels before, without issue.”
“And then they’ll come back for you? Or will you be able to follow in the shuttle?”
“No, ain't no way this shuttle can travel long distances,” Leo put in. “It don’t even carry water.”
How long will that take?”
“It will take them about three months to reach it. The world we are seeking is another four months beyond it.” He hesitated, glancing back and forth between the two of us. I grew suspicious. "They have opted to carry on with the mission.”
“What? They’re leaving you behind? Those bastards!”
“It is the sensible solution. I was holding up the journey, and our supplies are not infinite.”
“Sensible, my ass! Give me those headphones!” I jumped up and headed for the chair. “I’m going to give them a piece of my mind!”
“Wilrhyn, no!” He was unexpectedly fast, and blocked me from getting to the chair. “You cannot interfere."
"Wanna bet? They can't just dump you and run! Do you know how much trouble we would have gotten into if we'd done that to a crew member? It's murder!"
I tried to push past him, but it was like running into a wall.
He grabbed me by the shoulders and gently walked me backward. "I have been trained for solo missions. I will survive."
"That's impossible!"
His eyes narrowed. "If it were, you would be unable to tell me so."
"I - I'm a special case! The Void un-elf-ified me!" I spluttered. "It can't be done!"
"It is possible, and I know the method. This decision has been made for the good of all, and I must tie up my hair and endure it. You must accept it as well, because they cannot return, even if you convinced them to do so." He shook me firmly to emphasize his words. "We cannot afford further risks. Not when we’ve come so far."
“Is that you saying that, or them?”
"They know where I am, and that I am safe here. We will have continued contact with each other, it will just become slower as they progress. I - I only have to wait for them to return, and solve the shuttle problem." It half sounded like he was trying to convince himself, as much as us. He looked over at Leo, who had been watching us with wide-eyed confusion.
“You want us to keep at it, then?” he stammered. “Yeah, sure, we’ll figure it out, no problem. I’ll, uh, go update Mike. That okay?” He looked hesitantly to me. I rolled my eyes and nodded, and he promptly vanished.
"It's not right," I grumbled, pulling out of Rowan's grasp. "But they do know I'm here. I can - I can help. You can come stay with me.”
"I can take care of myself!" he snapped. I must have finally hit a nerve.
"Look, this world is extremely different from Lyramir -"
"I have been in several worlds that are nothing like Lyramir."
"Alone?"
"No, but it was always a possibility. It is my path, not yours, and I must walk it."
"Fine, you've got to prove yourself, I get that, but -"
“Wilrhyn -”
“AGGI. My name is Aggi. And you’re going to call me Aggi," I poked him in the chest. "And this is my path you're walking on. Why shouldn't I give you directions and warn you about potholes and shortcuts? Wouldn't you do the same if someone washed up on your shore?"
“I would, yes. And it is kind of you to offer. But Stirelli advised against keeping in close contact with you. It would be a tragedy if I warped your harmony by accident, and I don’t want to also be responsible for such a loss.”
“What if they don’t come back? You’re just going to let yourself waste away? Put some theoretical perfect harmony over your own wellbeing? You deserve better than that!” I was waving my arms around at this point, and he grabbed my hands to avoid getting smacked.
“We are in contact with home. It will take a while for the messages to arrive, but we will eventually know if something goes wrong. Elorhyn will come for me, somehow.”
“You don’t think he’ll just write you off as a lost cause, too?”
He shrugged. “He never has, and I have been in worse predicaments.”
“Well you’re just a hot mess, aren’t you?”
It took him a moment to work out what that phrase meant, and that earned me a dirty look. “I thought I was, but since I’ve met you -” he raised an eyebrow significantly.
There was a twinkle in his eyes, though. He could make jokes, he could survive. I grinned at him, and he nearly smiled back. Then he realized we were still holding hands, and abruptly let go. “All right, but don’t think I'm just going to walk off and forget all about you. I’m going to be checking in regularly until you figure out how to block me, and if I don’t like what I see, I’m going to get bossy.”
“It seems I might have more to endure than I thought.”
“You get to keep the care package all to yourself, at least.”
“Placing me in your debt, again?”
“Yep!”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head, giving in. “At least give me a week before you harass me again.”
"That long? No. Two days."
"Four."
“Fine. We can meet up for ice cream.”
“Not the place with the bucket?”
“I’ll make sure they don’t sing.”
“A generous act, which will place me even further in your debt.”
“Don’t worry, you’re paying.” I winked and headed for the door. “Toodles!” I snapped my fingers dramatically and teleported home.
So that's more or less where I am now, keeping an eye on an abandoned elf while waiting for someone to come back in a spaceship and claim him, and possibly me.
I finally read the history book he gave me, and holy shirtballs, what a mess I missed. It was probably much worse than their cleaned up version depicted, and now I want the real story.
Reading it made me feel like it would be a good idea to write MY (relatively boring in comparison) story down, so here it is. And I’m going to start keeping a daily journal. Just to keep track of what’s going on, and to see if Rowan’s self harmony actually does work. Maybe I'll even illustrate it and bind it in leather.
Like a Lyran elf would do.
Because deep down, I still am one.
No comments:
Post a Comment